Pages

16 October, 2013

#BookReview :: Bones of the Lost (Temperance Brennan #16) by Kathy Reichs

When Charlotte police discover the body of a teenage girl along a desolate stretch of two-lane highway, Temperance Brennan fears the worst. The girl’s body shows signs of foul play. Inside her purse police find the ID card of a prominent local businessman, John-Henry Story, who died in a horrific flea market fire months earlier. Was the girl an illegal immigrant turning tricks? Was she murdered?The medical examiner has also asked Tempe to examine a bundle of Peruvian dog mummies confiscated by U.S. Customs. A Desert Storm veteran named Dominick Rockett stands accused of smuggling the objects into the country. Could there be some connection between the trafficking of antiquities and the trafficking of humans?As the case deepens, Tempe must also grapple with personal turmoil. Her daughter Katy, grieving the death of her boyfriend in Afghanistan, impulsively enlists in the Army. Meanwhile, Katy’s father Pete is frustrated by Tempe’s reluctance to finalize their divorce. As pressure mounts from all corners, Tempe soon finds herself at the center of a conspiracy that extends all the way from South America, to Afghanistan, and right to the center of Charlotte.

Welcome back to the life of Temperance Brennan, where nothing is ever what it appears and Bones can change the way you look at things.This time, Tempe has three cases on her plate. First is a hit-and-run case where the body of a girl found on a deserted stretch of the highway. The second case is that of mummified dogs [no you didn’t read that wrong] that were being smuggled into the country. And the third case takes her all the way to Afghanistan where a US Marine has been accused of murdering two locals. At the same time her personal life is in a turmoil too. Her daughter had enlisted in the army and is stationed at Afghanistan. Her ex-husband is pushing her for a divorce so that he can marry again. And to top things off, her boyfriend Ryan, has gone off the radar too. With pressure mounting her from all directions and the personal connection that she feels in the first and the third case – Tempe has to pull all stops to solve the cases.All of Kathy Reichs’ books have two things in common – great technical details and well researched subjects. This book was no exception. And of course her narration style remains the same – fluid and natural. This time she has managed to build up great tension in the plot, however the ending was not even close to what it was being built up to. I cannot help but feel a bit disappointed with the ending. Also, I am kind of getting tired of Tempe’s all-rounder and better than the specialists image. She is always so hell bent on doing everything on her own, which previously meant predictable actions in climax scenes, now seems to have turned to a one woman show. I mean, even super heroes need help from time to time – like Batman has Alfred & the commissioner in the least to back him up. But Tempe never needs anybody!Irrespective of my misgivings, I cannot deny the fact that this book is an entertaining one. Kathy Reichs is after all an expert storyteller.

Total Pageviews

Disclaimer

In accordance with FTC guidelines/regulations for bloggers and endorsements, please note that all the books reviewed on this blog were either purchased by me, or borrowed from the local library or provided to me by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review and nothing else. In case of reviews for Blog Tours - while the company may have received some payment for their services, I as a host do not accept any payment and gain nothing in return for the review other than the book itself.

Book covers & Summary of the books are copied from Goodreads / Amazon. No Copyright infringement Intended

My reviews are my honest opinion and remain uninfluenced despite the source(s) through which I obtained the book(s) .